MUSC Celebrates 700th Bone Marrow Transplant

Main Category: Transplants / Organ Donations
Also Included In: Blood / Hematology;  Cancer / Oncology;  Lymphoma / Leukemia / Myeloma
Article Date: 21 Sep 2006 - 0:00 PDT

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The MUSC Blood and Marrow Transplant Program (BMT) performed its 700th transplant for patients with benign and malignant hematological disorders.

Debbie Cook, a dental hygienist from Bluffton, has completed her transfusions and, within another few months will be able to head back to work.

"It's incredible what they can do here and the caring and loving staff were not only concerned about me, but they were also (concerned) about my family," said Cook. "They explained the transplant process in depth. I've never been to a medical doctor who explained something that much and I felt they prepared me the best they could about how, why and when."

The BMT program began in 1987 and now boasts decades of experience among the team of physicians, nurses, coordinators and social workers. All specialists on the team have input into case management providing patients with comprehensive cancer and transplant care. MUSC has the only unrelated-donors program in the state and it is the only location in the state for pediatric cord blood transplants.

"It's a comprehensive outpatient program, and we spent a lot of time figuring out how to provide bone marrow transplants safely in the outpatient setting and how to train the family to be that necessary support for the patient," said Debbie Frei-Lahr, M.D., director of the combined adult/pediatric BMT program.

MUSC is both a donor center, which harvests here and sends elsewhere; and a transplant center, which harvests elsewhere and sends here. These services are not always found in the same facility. "We have to work hard and work together to make it all work," Frei-Lahr said.

Frei-Lahr performs adult bone marrow transplants along with Robert Stuart, M.D., and Larry Afrin, M.D. Julio Barredo, M.D., Jackie Kraveka, M.D., and Mary Ellen Caviler, M.D., all perform pediatric transplants.

To donate bone marrow, call 1-800- Marrow-2. You can also donate cord blood for stem cell harvesting at a child's birth, or save and store it in various places throughout the country for one family's use.

About MUSC

Founded in 1824 in Charleston, The Medical University of South Carolina is the oldest medical school in the south. Today, MUSC continues the tradition of excellence in education, research, and patient care. MUSC is home to over 3,000 students and residents, as well as nearly 10,000 employees, including 1,300 faculty members. As the largest non-federal employer in Charleston, the University and its affiliates have collective budgets in excess of $1.3 billion per year. MUSC operates a 600 bed medical center, which includes a nationally recognized Children's Hospital and a leading Institute of Psychiatry.
http://www.muschealth.com